


A Rock and a Hard Place

by Demi_Fae



Series: Whumptober 2020 [2]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Descriptions of Blood, Gen, Minor Character Death, Slavery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-02
Updated: 2020-10-02
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:08:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,239
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26691976
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Demi_Fae/pseuds/Demi_Fae
Summary: “And now the great Jedi General Anakin Skywalker is presented with a choice,” the queen grinned. Her words were barely loud enough for him to hear even though she was only a few feet away from him. There was a slight echo as her words were projected to the rest of the audience. “There are two in the arena now. Which will you choose to survive? Your master, or the slave? Who do the Jedi value more, an innocent life or one of their own?”-Day 2:"Pick Who Dies"|Collars| Kidnapped
Relationships: Obi-Wan Kenobi & Anakin Skywalker
Series: Whumptober 2020 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1930612
Comments: 10
Kudos: 80





	A Rock and a Hard Place

Anakin stared over the shoulder of the queen at the arena below. It disgusted him to have to play the slaver when his entire childhood was spent in the chains of these types of people. Dressing Ahsoka as a pleasure slave had been worse- she didn’t really know these horrors the way he did. She shouldn’t have to be exposed to them in this way. He should have fought harder against the initial plan, told them to sell him as the slave instead- and yet, here they were anyway. 

Anakin hid his grimace to himself and watched the queen out of the corner of his eye. He was supposed to be finding the location of the togruta, and here he was attending a slave auction. It was to please the queen, but it didn’t make the rock in Anakin’s stomach any lighter. 

On the other side of the queen’s throne stood the man who had just come in to give her urgent news. From the slight grins on both of their faces it couldn’t have been anything good. It seemed some plans had changed as Miraj stood from her throne to address the crowd before her. 

“Before we begin the auction, I would welcome a most special guest. Obi-Wan Kenobi, Jedi Knight!” Anakin’s heart stopped. Ahsoka beside him looked just as shocked as he felt. Obi-Wan, captured? It didn’t seem possible. He was the best Jedi among them, strong and powerful- and battered and bruised before them as he was paraded into the arena. He limped across the sand and shielded his eyes as the audience boo’ed down at him. Miraj continued to talk but Anakin’s eyes were glued to Obi-Wan, who was being pushed forward onto a platform in the center. 

“My friends, my good friends, do not fear the Jedi! They are no different from others we have forced into submission. For they have forsaken their ideals to serve a corrupt Senate! Every Jedi has become a slave to the Repulic. The Jedi Order is weak and we will help break it.” 

Had Anakin been paying more attention to the queen’s speech, he might have been more offended. He wasn’t a slave anymore and wouldn’t ever be again. Not to Gardulla, the Hutts, the Senate, or anyone else. As it was, Anakin was too focused on trying to account for all of Obi-Wan’s injuries. He’d curled in on himself, ribs- limp, legs- Anakin tallied up each of his master’s wounds against the Zyggerians. They’d caused this, and they would pay. 

Obi-Wan down in the arena looked up and caught eyes with Anakin. He shook his head slowly, and though he hated to yield to Obi-Wan, he knew he was right. Anakin wanted to jump into the center of the arena and fight the guards, break Obi-Wan free, and kill every slaver in this place. They’d have to fight to make even a dent in the Zygerrian forces and it would ruin the entire purpose of their mission- to find the kidnapped Kiros colony. They were peaceful and knew nothing of how to survive slavery. They would adapt, but thye’d lose far too many of their own during that time. They had to be saved, no matter how much Anakin wished he could help Obi-Wan now. 

“But that is not all!” Anakin’s eyes snapped back to the queen. What more could there be? 

She didn’t spare a glance at him and continued her speech. “We also seem to have with us the famed Hero With No Fear and his student, Anakin Skywalker! The full team,” she smirked and finally looked towards Anakin. As she did two guards grabbed each of Ahsoka’s arms, heedless of her shouting. 

“Ahsoka!” His heart pounded in his chest. How did she know? How _long_ had she known? And- what were they going to do? How were they going to get out of this?

“Don’t move.” the queen commanded and glared at Anakin. She raised another finger to signal someone out of sight. “Bring forward the girl!” 

From the opposite side of the arena, more guards appeared to push in a small twi’lek female. She looked just barely old enough to be considered an adult, and it was obvious she hadn’t been fed for days. Her ‘clothes’ could barely be called that, just rags covering enough so as to not seem indecent. Her skin was just as bloodied as Obi-Wan’s, and she stumbled into her spot across from him. 

“Now the great Jedi General Anakin Skywalker is presented with a choice,” the queen grinned. Her words were barely loud enough for him to hear over the rushing in his ears even though she was only a few feet away. There was a slight echo as her words were projected to the rest of the audience. “There are two in the arena now. Which will you choose to survive? Your master, or the slave? Who do the Jedi value more, an innocent life or one of their own?” 

Anakin was still in shock. What had gone wrong- where had they captured Obi-Wan? He’d thought everything would go smoothly on a mission for once, but apparently not. Then the queen’s words hit him fully. _Choose-_

“What?” he croaked. 

With a flick of her wrist, the guards below the queen kicked out Obi-Wan’s and the girl’s knees and forced them to the ground. Simultaneously they wrenched their heads back and forced a collar around their necks. 

“You should recognize these, yes? Slave collars.” Of course Anakin knew what they were. The clave chips and transmitters implanted under their skin were bad enough, but collars? Though they functioned in the same way, to execute a slave if the master so wished, to blow up the bomb inside, a collar was so much worse. Anakin had been thankful he’d never been collared. It was a constant, chafing reminder of the ownership of your master. There was no place to pretend that you were not a slave for you carried the reminder always. 

Obi-Wan must have felt Anakin staring at him, because they looked up and met eyes once again in that moment. Obi-Wan was in pain, that was easy enough to tell even with how far away they were. But he looked to Anakin and reached out through their bond, glancing over to the girl. Anakin instantly knew what Obi-Wan wanted even without him pushing it through the Force- for Anakin to let the girl go, and choose to kill Obi-Wan. 

He wouldn’t be able to do it. He didn’t think he’d ever be able to kill Obi-Wan, not even if the other man begged for it. 

Anakin couldn’t stand to look into those eyes anymore. His gaze wandered over to the slave girl kneeling across from Obi-Wan. She was young, far too young to have a small bump on her abdomen. Without even checking in the Force Anakin could tell she was pregnant from the look in her eyes. It was the same look that many of the slaves Anakin knew had- the one that he’d had, for a time. Of a slave broken, not even feeling that their body was theirs anymore. Completely violated. 

And yet, she still had the slightest sliver of hope in her eyes. How could Anakin steal it away? Could he really condemn her so that his master might live? She looked so afraid. Afraid of death, of dying a slave, never seeing the stars as a free being. Her life was competely in Anakin’s hands, and he desperately wanted to save them both. 

How could he ever choose who would die between these two? His master? Or the slave girl? 

Anakin felt sick. Obi-Wan tried to soothe some of the feeling away, pushing warmth and love and acceptance through, but it just made Anakin feel worse. The idea of choosing between them- choosing who would live- Anakin swayed on his feet. How could he? His first instinct was to let Obi-Wan go free- always Obi-Wan, always his master first, let him live- but how could he condemn the slave? There had to be another way. 

Anakin looked towards the guards around the area. There were a few in the room around him, more with the audience and down in the arena. He could take the ones here he was sure, but all the rest? Ahsoka and Rex could help to even their numbers, and once Anakin rescued him, Obi-Wan could help as much. But would the four of them be enough? Anakin wasn’t sure, but he didn’t think so. Sooner or later they’d be overpowered and all four of them would be slaves, unable to help the togruta they were sent for at all. 

Anakin looked down over to Obi-Wan. The collar around his throat was large and ugly. It could have once been durasteel but had since blackened and burned, and likely stil had the blood of previous slaves on it. Why waste time and water cleaning it, after all? It will only be used to kill again. 

Anakin remembered being forced to clean a few of these collars in Watto’s shop, refitting them with more explosives. The shell could withstand a few blasts but the electronics inside had to be replaced every time and it was usually forced upon Anakin with his small hands and clever mind. He had been forced to become the one who would indirectly kill more slaves. 

He’d even been present to see his work a few times- to watch a person’s head blow clean off, to see their blood misting in the air and settle into the sand. Then to watch as thier head followed and their milky eyes stared back, to approach and have to be the one to remove the collar and fix it for the next slave. 

Could he imagine that for Obi-Wan? For his collar to blow his head clean off and kill him? Could he imagine the rest of his life without Obi-Wan by his side, his friend and mentor? 

He couldn’t. Anakin didn’t know what his life would be like without the other half of his soul. 

Obi-Wan had raised him since he was a child. He’d been beside Anakin for more than half of his life, was his best friend. But Anakin knew what it was like to be in the slave girl’s position. To have your life put into someone else’s hands for entertainment, to know that they could kill you and never face a penalty, could even be congratulated for it. To know that no one would mourn you but our family and no one else would ever care. For what was the price of a slave’s death? 

Only the wood their body was burned on and the fire that consumed it. 

Sweat dripped down Anakin’s brow and stung his eye. He could feel the queen beside him becoming impatient but Anakin couldn’t make a choice. If he could just get Artoo to get him his lightsaber, maybe Ahsoka- but no, Ahsoka was still being held and Artoo was too far away to be any help. 

Evidently Anakin was taking too long, because the queen lifted a finger to her brow in an unspoken command. The guards holding Obi-Wan and the girl to their knees immediately pulled their staffs out again and drove them into the two’s backs. They immediately arched and screamed as electricity coursed through them. 

“No!” Anakin screamed out in unison with the two being tortured. He could almost feel the same electricity in his teeth. Anakin could have been feeling echoes from Obi-Wan in the arena- It was something he’d never get used to, no matter how many times he’d felt it. The queen lazily waved her arm again and the guards pulled back from the two’s twitching bodies. “Then make your choice,” she commanded. 

Anakin glanced down to the arena and to the two held there. He could always justify his decision. Obi-Wan was a High General in the Galactic Army of the Republic. He saved millions of lives daily with his leadership of the clones. He was a Jedi Master and a Council member. By saving him entire worlds could be saved. A slave girl wasn’t worth the cost of losing such an accomplished general and negotiator.

But Anakin knew the real reason. He could never picture a life without Obi-Wan. One without him would not be a life worth living. 

Though it made his heart cry out, Anakin knew what he was going to choose. He couldn’t speak as he lifted a trembling finger to point down at the arena. He couldn’t lift his head to even give them the comfort of a human connection as he decided who would die. There was a short cry and he closed his eyes as if he could block the feeling of their pain in the Force. 

He could feel the Queen’s lips curl into a smirk behind him. “Excellent,” she purred. 

Anakin couldn’t think, couldn’t feel anything as he heard the muffled boom of a slave collar detonating below. 

When Anakin opened his eyes again, the image would be forever burned into his skull. His master below him, staring up at Anakin with a battered body, and worse than that, heartbroken eyes. And the body of the pregnant slave girl next to him, blood spilling out onto the sand and misting the air as her unseeing eyes stared up at Anakin. 

**Author's Note:**

> I almost ended this in a way that I wouldn't really say who Anakin picked, and then after .3 seconds more thinking I realized there wasn't any way Anakin wouldn't let Obi-Wan live, so I wrote more. 
> 
> Also! This little scene will be a three- part story! This was from Anakin's POV, obviously, while tomorrow's (Forced to their Knees) is from Obi-Wan's, and Saturday's (Caged) is a reflection by Ahsoka. 
> 
> You can yell at me on tumblr at [rynae-reblogs](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/rynae-reblogs)


End file.
